Chapter 277: Hahoe Mask Returns (2)

The top floor of a building located in Shanghai.

Creak—

A cold chill began to spread, rapidly engulfing the area, where warmth had always permeated.

Frost formed on the surfaces of objects, the air froze to the point where it was hard to breathe, and the flows of the frantically activating barriers stalled and creaked.

[It seems you have been doing well. You look so hale and hearty.]

All of this was a phenomenon that had occurred due to the appearance of just a single existence.

'How?'

Amidst that unusual phenomenon.

Yullyeongja, the owner of the office, desperately gathered his confused thoughts and glared at the uninvited guest before him.

'How did he get here… no, it's meaningless to ask such things now.'

It was already a well-known fact that Hahoe Mask was a master of dark magic.

Of course, Beoncheonhoe had been thoroughly preparing for that for a long time, and the East Asia branch, where his area of activity overlapped, had added concealment that was specialized for dark magic in addition to its normal security…

'That was all rendered useless. Did I underestimate the other party's capabilities?'

Clench, Yullyeongja, who had gritted his teeth, slowly took a step back while glancing at all the barriers and equipment that were already being activated.

Although there had been a problem in the concealment and entry prevention stage due to the unexpected surprise attack, this place was a control tower that oversaw the entire East Asia.

There was no way that the security applied here was just that, was there?

Whoosh—!

Buzz—

Forming the other dimension, isolating the space, fixing the coordinates, controlling the powers, suppressing dark magic, constructing a divine altar, etc….

Not much time was needed for all of the equipment, which had been activated one by one from the moment Hahoe Mask had entered, to be fully deployed.

A synergy that sought only efficiency, regardless of the category of power.

It was a combination of multiple techniques that only Beoncheonhoe could do.

[Hoo—? Truly amazing.]

Hans, who had admired in a low voice, slowly looked around.

Looking at this, he could also understand why he hadn't been able to identify Yullyeongja's location earlier.

He had wondered why he hadn't been able to track his whereabouts even though he had faced him in his spiritual state twice already. But it was understandable if he had been in the midst of such defenses.

'What a pity. If I had immediately captured him at the same time as I entered, things would've been easier.'

However, unlike his leisurely appearance while striking a pose, Hans's inner self was moving more busily than ever.

The first plan, which was to rush straight to where Yullyeongja was and capture him, had failed due to spatial distortions that were different from what he had observed from the outside.

He had managed to turn his direction at the last minute and reach the inside of the office, but he couldn't immediately act because of the barriers that had started to activate at the same time.

'But… the situation isn't that bad right now.'

Yullyeongja, who was wary of him and retreating backwards, and all sorts of security techniques that had been activated densely as if to protect him.

Hans gazed at the combined techniques unique to Beoncheonhoe, which he had already seen several times, with the "Eyes of the Abyss".

'My my…'

And the information that was drawn in through that was immediately dismantled into pieces through "The Path of Magic", "Forbidden Knowledge", and "The Unholy Sage".

'It's a feast.'

The analyzed content became a nourishment for "The Path of Magic".

'In the first place, it's thanks to Beoncheonhoe that I was able to gain this skill in the first place.'

In the past, it was an ability that had bloomed after a dedicated personal lesson, with great research materials and the sacrifices of Yullyeongja's eyes and legs.

And yet, he had prepared such a vast amount of teaching materials again this time.

[You are admirable. And foolish. Did you think you could stop me with just this?]

A black glow leaked from the eyes behind the Hahoe Mask.

Along with that, the barriers began to shake and scream loudly due to the energy that was exploding from his body.

[I am death, who grows by feeding on your fears—.]

Bang!

Rumble—

At that time, a number of awakened individuals burst through the office door.

All were at least at the peak level, and one of them was a strong individual who had fully reached transcendence.

They probably knew well that they could not defeat Hahoe Mask alone.

Perhaps they were thinking that they would be able to hold out until support arrived from other branches if they had the help of the barriers.

But.

[...No one will be able to escape it.]

That was just their wishful thinking.

Kwoooom—!

The space trembled as another explosion occurred.

'Even though there are multiple overlapping barriers, there is such an aftermath.'

However, Yullyeongja was diligently moving his feet to go down the stairs while frowning at the shock that was transmitted from behind.

To leave the fighting to the others and evacuate as quickly as possible himself.

Originally, his role was a manager, not a combatant, so it was a natural decision.

Of course, his unique skill, "Image Projection", was a great ability that could destroy a mental world regardless of physical power, but had he not already felt in his bones that such a method would not work on Hahoe Mask?

'I paid a hefty price for that.'

He glanced down at his legs, which were diligently moving. They had movement assist magic tools attached to them, just like his right arm.

'The Shanghai branch will be closed for the time being. Even though I've already handled things with the public security, it has already drawn too much attention. There is no benefit in attracting unnecessary interest.'

China was vast and densely populated, so a large number of branches were distributed there.

If he went to any of them, it would not be a big problem to carry out his work.

After all, everything that he needed to do as a branch manager was in his head.

'The problem is… that Hahoe Mask's rampage won't end with just this time.'

Yullyeongja's face twisted as he recalled the bizarre masked attacker again.

Most of the Transcendent-level individuals of China were scattered throughout the continent.

It was only natural, since having strong people gathered in one place was a waste of efficiency.

The problem was that it would take considerable time to gather them in one place.

'And at this time, when the leader is away…!'

Just a day ago.

It was the time that the leader had remained on Earth, considering the reappearance of Hahoe Mask.

But the leader had just left because they could no longer waste time like this.

What exquisite timing that was?

Yullyeongja, who had gritted his teeth several times, took a deep breath and forcibly calmed his mind.

Getting agitated would not help him now.

He glanced at the notification window that was floating in the corner of his left prosthetic eye.

-Code Name: Hahoe Mask

-Energy Type: Dark Magic + Death(?)

-Major Abilities: Dark Magic, Undead, Teleportation, Barriers in general, etc. many

-Origin Dimension: Unknown

-Unique Skills: Unknown

-...

The information that had been output right after facing Hahoe Mask.

Although it was said to be a scan, most of its contents were the information that had remained in his mind, rather than what the prosthetic eye had directly analyzed.

Even though it was the product of cutting-edge magic engineering, there was a limit in figuring out someone with a high level like Hahoe Mask.

However, there were a few lines at the bottom that were immediately useful.

-Measured Energy: 93,853,126

-Risk Level: S+

-Detected energy response equal to or greater than that of a Gigawatt-class ship's nuclear reactor. It is advised to evacuate quickly.

These were values that were being measured in real time and were constantly changing.

This prosthetic eye was from the Callicas dimension, where magic engineering had extremely developed and had advanced into space.

Naturally, the ships mentioned here referred to the ultra-large space ships that sailed the celestial bodies.

'But S+? Most of the Heavenly-level individuals that I identified after obtaining this prosthetic eye were at the A level…'

Of course, the amount of energy was not proportional to the combat power.

In a space war where they poured out a massive amount of energy while fighting, it might be different. But in a match between experts who controlled it with extreme efficiency, there wouldn't be much of a difference if it was beyond a certain level.

Although it would be hard to completely negate a direct shot from the main cannon, Transcendent-level individuals were able to simply deflect it by slightly changing its direction.

But, even when taking that into account, the numbers, which were of a completely different scale, put a great pressure on the viewer.

Especially for those, like Yullyeongja, who were used to predicting the world through objective data and calculations.

'I need to leave this place first. Tian Weiming is also a Heavenly-level Transcendent at A+, so with the help of the barrier and the terrestrial-level individuals, he will be able to hold out for a while.'

In fact, the fastest way to move to another branch was prepared on the top floor, but now he had no choice but to go down because of Hahoe Mask.

Originally, no matter where the intruder infiltrated, he was supposed to be sent to the lowest floor due to spatial distortion. So, he would respond to it leisurely, and then escape to the teleportation array on the top floor when things seemed hopeless.

'Damn it, because of that, the other means that would allow me to move quickly have been blocked.'

Who knew that the thorough preparation would become an obstacle to escaping like this?

He vowed that if he were to go to another branch, he would definitely improve this point and redesign it.

'Almost there…!'

Of course.

If he could escape.

Kwoooom—!

A shockwave, even more intense than the ones before, suddenly surged from the top floor and swept through the area.

"Kuh! What the heck is this!"

Yullyeongja, who was caught up in it, staggered weakly, but the assist device in his legs automatically controlled his posture, so he was able to avoid being thrown onto the floor.

However…

That was where the luck that had been given to him ended.

-Measured Energy: 156,759,142

-Risk Level: SS-

-Detected an energy response equivalent to a Terrawatt-class ship's nuclear reactor. Proceed with the emergency escape sequence immediately.

Along with a notification window that had a changed value appearing again before his eyes.

[Keheheh— We meet again. It seems you've been walking quite diligently.]

The voice he had faced just a while ago grazed his ears again.

Yullyeongja, who had quickly checked the risk level, closed his eyes tightly.

Then, he forced his eyes open and turned his head to look at the person who had spoken to him.

"...Where's Tian Weiming?"

It felt like quite a long time had passed, but in reality, it hadn't even been a few minutes.

And yet, he had already been broken through this quickly. This was a truly unexpected situation.

[Hmm? …Ah! You mean that guy?]

However, Yullyeongja, who had seen behind Hahoe Mask, was able to immediately understand what had happened.

Thump-thump—

Swish— Swish—

Along with the sound of multiple people walking, mixed with the sound of something dragging on the floor…

More than ten shadows appeared, parting the darkness of the hallway.

'That's…!'

Yullyeongja gritted his teeth after seeing that.

An undead unit, with black energy dripping from their whole bodies as if they had fallen into ink.

He could see their level at a glance.

'Heavenly-level undead…! And all of the rest are also terrestrial-level? How could they possibly be on Earth!'

They were the "Abyss Revenants" that had been created with the corpses of the awakened individuals that they had collected so far.

An elite squad that had selected only the best among them.

Then the undead in the very front, Salma, slowly held up something that she had been grabbing in one hand and dragging.

"...Tian Weiming."

What was seen under the hair that was being grabbed in the black hand was a face that was familiar to Yullyeongja.

He was the Heavenly-level master who had confidently remained behind to buy time until just a while ago.

The difference from before was… that there was no life left in that face anymore.

[Keheheh— Thanks to you, I've obtained a useful material. This guy can also be reborn wonderfully. This is very satisfying.]

"..."

The demon king of death, with a troop of corpses at his back, let out an eerie laugh.

The helpless human before him, who was crushed by his presence, couldn't say anything.

[By the way…]

But, as it was natural, Hans had no intention of letting him be.

[You also have quite a few things that look good?]

A pair of eyes filled with the abyss scanned Yullyeongja's body.

He was a non-combat mental type awakener, and he had not even reached transcendence, but he was still somewhat rare, so his body was not completely useless.

And most of all…

'I've thought this before, but I'm very tempted by that eye.'

The mechanical prosthetic eye, with a faint blue circle on the rim and geometric patterns filled in the iris, which was emitting a mysterious glow.

It was the first time that he had seen a magic engineering item of that level, so he couldn't help but be drawn to it.

Also, his dwarf avatar, Howard, was in the midst of challenging magic engineering, right?

And that wasn't everything.

'I'm sure he was in a wheelchair last time, wasn't he? And that right arm, too.'

Look at those arms and legs moving naturally as if there was nothing wrong with them!

And with such a naturalness that could not be noticed under the clothes.

'It's literally the ultimate reinforced exoskeleton.'

That would be a good gift for Howard, who was currently devoted to improving his suits.

There was still the problem of the limitation of using magic tools from other worlds, but that was something to think about later.

Hans, who had gained a considerable harvest, let out a satisfied laugh again.

And he slowly walked over to Yullyeongja and extended one hand.

[Where do you think you're going to run away this time.]

"…Hah, you bastard…"

As it was natural.

Until Hans's hand touched his forehead, he was unable to escape.